First time Columbia SC home buyers are being squeezed out of the housing market recovery due to a sharp rise in home prices, a recent jump in mortgage rates, tighter lending practices, and competition from investors picking up lower-priced property for cash. This report comes from The Wall Street Journal.

Columbia SC Home Buyers Profile:

First time Columbia SC home buyers are more likely to be unemployed, underemployed, or have an unemployed spouse, to have lingering student debt, a less-established credit record and weaker credit scores, the WSJ added.

Between January and June, the median credit score for first time buyers was 720, below the 750 for repeat buyers, according to information collected for the National Association of Realtors' Confidence Index.

At the same time, no-money-down mortgages and other products that were popular before the mortgage crisis have largely disappeared, the WSJ reported.

And lenders have become much more cautious, scrutinizing appraisals, incomes, and the sources of borrowers' down payment funds to guard against potential legal liability should mortgages default.

Add all that to the recent jump in mortgage rates, and the fact first time Columbia SC home buyers are competing for lower-priced properties with investors who often pay with cash, and you have a recipe for first time home buyers to be pushed out of the market, the Journal said.

If you're a first time Columbia SC home buyer, or would like to be, call us today. We have helped hundreds of first time home buyers get into a home, and we're here to help you as well.